This is about money. It's business vs. business, no real good guy, no real bad guy.

These negotiations are more than a year old, and if you ask Manougian when something might be accomplished, he chooses his words carefully, and hardly answers. It isn't because he doesn't want to. It's because any answer is a risky bet. He did this when he was The Golf Channel boss.

The lesson was the same then as it is now: It just takes time.

Here's the press release:

Growing Network Adds Two New Providers, Now Reaches More than 200 Communities

PORTLAND, OR (October 15, 2008) - Comcast SportsNet Northwest, home of the most comprehensive local sports coverage, today announced distribution agreements with two additional television providers, Country Cablevision, serving the Salem region, and Monroe Telephone, continuing the network's growth before the start of the 2008-2009 NBA season.

Today's announcement comes less than two weeks after Comcast SportsNet launched on Canby Telcom in Oregon and expanded into the Seattle region on Comcast Cable and Verizon FiOS. In total, seven providers serving more than 200 communities in Oregon and Washington carry Comcast SportsNet. Comcast SportsNet is available to every cable and satellite provider serving the Northwest.

Comcast SportsNet will launch on Country Cablevision channel 9 and Monroe Telephone channel 153 before the Portland Trail Blazers' first game of the season on Comcast SportsNet on November 1.

Sports fans served by television providers that do not carry Comcast SportsNet should log on to www.csnnw.com or call 877-8-CSNNW-9 (877-827-6699) to send a request to their provider to add Comcast SportsNet to their channel lineup.

Comcast SportsNet is the 24/7 home of Northwest sports featuring the Portland Trailblazers, NHL coverage including the Vancouver Canucks, and in-depth regional college athletics featuring the University of Oregon. Comcast SportsNet offers daily sports news, talk and analysis to give fans the inside look at the teams and players that matter most in the region.

Hopefully this means more of you will be able to view the Blazers games now and that this is the next step into complete coverage of CSN for the entire state. Because you all know how much it stinks Comcast is overcharging for a single channel.